What Top Rock Bands Know about Customer Service: A Lesson from Coldplay

My husband and I lucked out and got to see Coldplay in concert last night (thank you CardnoWRG for your hospitality!).

Approaching the arena, a friendly man with a large black “Mentos” branded bag handed us free candy. Inside at the turnstile, a ticket taker invited us to select a neon green, pink or blue light-up wrist band. Once seated in the dark arena, we wondered out loud and on Twitter about the wrist bands. Then the music boomed, the band took the stage and what looked like thousands of fireflies lit up from wrist bands all over the arena: a mosaic of twinkling lights. After that, confetti shot up over the stage, looking for all the world like a snow globe as it floated down. A little while later, colorful beach balls appeared overhead.

Lead singer Chris Martin welcomed everyone. And then he thanked everyone. Earnestly. And between each song, he thanked us again. “We know what you went through to get here tonight, and we won’t disappoint you.” “We appreciate you spending your Tuesday night with us, Portland.”

Call me a sucker for swooning over some blue smoke, mirrors and proper British manners, but smiling amidst all that surprise and delight last night I thought, “This is how it’s done.”

Coldplay created a fan for life last night. No doubt a lot of time, effort and money went into what they did. They didn’t have to do all of that. But they did. And it was magic. And I’m hooked.

Thanks Coldplay, for reminding me how a little bit of extra magic goes a long, long way. Isn’t that what good customer service is all about?